|The Campania|
Madeleine's fingers kept digging into the wooden railing, unable to tear her eyes away from the event. Below her people ran away screaming, pushing each other out of the way. Glass smashed on the floor, the scent of liquor mixing with that of fear as the pleas for God resounded through the hall. She watched as the body of a girl once known as Margaret stumbled, getting back up time and time again despite Sebastian's efforts to keep her down. In her stomach nerves coiled around like a snake, because there was something else on this ship that shouldn't be here.
Something that smelled of death.
She glanced once at Ciel who despite seeming shaken did not look like he was in any immediate danger. Doctor Ryan on the other hand had made a fast escape, and he was the only lead they had. She crossed eyes with her nephew once and gave a sharp nod. Sometimes it was necessary to take a risk, and she was confident that Sebastian would protect Ciel with everything he had. Five seconds later she had left the balcony and the screams, going after the sound of footsteps.
Waiters in the hallway barely dodged her, most of them looking the other way as if someone had only just recently ran past them. Madeleine noted their reaction, the trail leading to the staircase reserved for staff. "Miss, you can't pass there."
It was one of the head waiters, a man with a mustache barely covering his upper lip. Madeleine repressed an annoyed grunt, instead adding a layer of glamor to her voice. "I'm allowed to pass."
Before the man had repeated after her she ducked inside. The sound of expensive shoes on iron clamored through the stairway. Taking a second to determine that the doctor was indeed going down she followed suite. If the space between the stairs hadn't been so narrow she would have risked flying, because at this speed that doctor was liable to break his neck as he tripped over his own feet.
The really bad news in the situation that Ryan was also moving closer to the source of whatever it was that gave of the dead atmosphere. Goosebumps raised over her skin she shuddered, hoping it would not be another repeat of the little show she had just witnessed. Dead people should not be moving around, not without a soul. In a sense she was a dead body too, but rather reverse-engineered, if they needed to paste a term on it. Her soul needed a vessel to move around in the Middle Realm so she had instinctively re-created her old body. Just like Sebastian had picked a form he preferred.
Footsteps came from above her, and the huffing accompanying it sounded awfully familiar. She stopped just above the lowest deck, giving the pursuer a moment to catch up. "Ciel, is that you?" she asked. Her voice resounded uncomfortable in the metal room, leading her to whisper when she saw her nephew appear. "Why aren't you with Sebastian?"
"Because another shinigami turned up who wants to get rid of him. I don't have the time to wait for the two of them to knock it off, so I chased the doctor." He explained quickly, already stepping to the hatch that closed of the lower level.
Madeleine stopped him, grabbing him by the shoulder before he could reach the doors. "It's too dangerous for you to be here. There's… something in there, and I don't know what it is."
"You'd rather I turn back on my own?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Who knows, that Knox guy might decide to get rid of me as a way to get to Sebastian."
"Argh!" Madeleine let out, stomping her foot down on the cold hatch. "This is why I think you are too young for this sort of situation. Honestly, Sebastian would be much better suited to protect you, at least for now." She looked up the stairs and then to the hatches that would lead them down. Finally she held out her hand, peering down at the young boy, the corners of her mouth turned downward.
"You can come with me, but you're going to stay behind me at all times. It's not that easy to kill an angel, so whatever is down there will be less likely to get me killed."
Ciel at once let out a 'tch'. "I will not be treated like some toddler, Madeleine! I am the Queen's Guard Dog and if I want to go down there it shall not be at the hand of someone else. Sebastian is perfectly fine with letting me do as I please."
"I'm not bound to you by a contract, young man." Madeleine made clear, raising her head. "I am your aunt and I came back to the Middle Realm to keep you safe. I promised I would serve you, but only as long as it doesn't impede with your safety."
"I happened to miss that part when we made our agreement." Ciel snapped back, keeping both of his hands to himself.
"I only made that agreement to keep an eye on you. Now you either hold your aunt's hand OR I can leave you here dangling from the ceiling using one of my shields. And don't you think I wouldn't." the both of them glared at each other, Phantomhive temper in full action. Madeleine allowed some power to tap the boy on the wrist, raising an eyebrow.
Finally he held out a hand, the pout on his face obvious even in the half-dark. Not happy about having to take him along, Madeleine took his gloved hand in hers. "If something jumps at us, take cover behind me." she warned him, taking the lead down the stairs.
He grunted something, holding her hand as loosely as possibly without slipping away. The bottom part of the ship was stacked with boxes, the cold in the air nipping at their noses. The iron steps where slippery, Ciel's gasp from almost slipping sounding eerie in the dark environment. The one flashlight Madeleine was holding cast a surreal light of the entire scene.
"You're sure the doctor came past here?" Ciel asked, gripping her hand slightly tighter as the ship groaned in the night. The entire location seemed almost too peaceful after the mayhem higher up in the ship.
She nodded, clearly not paying much attention to his questions as she fought the queasy feeling in her stomach. "There's no other way he could have go-"
A sound to their left at once riled up their senses, Madeleine aiming the flashlight as Ciel aimed his small gun. A startled Snake let out a shriek, surrounded by remains of cake and his scaly friends.
"What are you doing here?" Ciel demanded, surprised at seeing his newest servant at their current location.
As Snake explained about the food and how he had wanted to share with the snakes that had been hidden on this deck, Elizabeth appeared, smelling of violets. Before Ciel could blow his top at her as well, Madeleine intervened. "Lizzy, dear goodness. What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be upstairs with the others?"
"I wanted Ciel to have one of the strawberry cakes he likes so much, but he just ran down here." the young girl explained, the chill awakening a fresh rose color on her cheeks. "I even brought him the biggest piece, see?"
Before Madeleine had registered the plate was empty Ciel grabbed Elizabeth by the arm, yanking her away from the corpse that had strawberry cream across the corners of its mouth. The angel backhanded the body, sending it staggering back a few steps. Her nose crinkled now that she was aware of the stench that had been hidden by Elizabeth's perfume.
"Madeleine, that corpse has the sign of the Aurora Society embroidered on its costume!" Ciel shouted at her, keeping his fiancé safe in his arms.
She mumbled something extremely unsuitable for young ears, raising a shield around the dead man to keep him from going after the children. One of the snakes slithered up her legs, sending more shivers down her spine. "That bird mark… there are more people wearing it right over there." Snake announced from behind her. "That's what Oscar says."
Madeleine glanced towards the snake that had now reached her shoulder. She guessed it was Emily again. "Is he serious?"
The snake nodded, prompting Madeleine to aim the flashlight towards the direction Snake was pointing. Row after row of coffins was stashed on this deck, each one of them increasing their rattling as the occupants senses someone walking around here. Madeleine repeated her earlier curse louder this time. "Snake, get the children out of here."
Snake hesitated for a moment, Madeleine already walking back. Basic training in the Upper Realm, though perhaps adjusted to the situation. If civilians were caught in the crossfire, first make sure they do not get caught in the crossfire unless the Reaper Department has clarified otherwise. At all times make sure humans cannot escape with the knowledge of things they are not supposed to be aware of.
Madeleine added a rule of herself to the list. "Don't let the kids see things that'll give them bad dreams. Snake, now!"
The sounds of ropes snapping started to sound, one or two at first but after that a real chorus. The group started their flight, only to stop in their tracks when they saw the exit blocked. Ciel shot down one of the corpses that advanced at Elizabeth. "Shooting them in the head is the only way to stop them!" he shouted at the two adults in the group.
Well, that was useful when the only one in the group with a gun was the thirteen year old boy. Madeleine raised up a shield, as strong as she could without drawing energy from Sebastian. The mark on her chest started to burn again. She didn't have time to think of the demon at this moment!
"They've stopped… says Wilde." Snake announced, sounding surprised himself. If he did glance at Madeleine it probably was pure coincidence.
"The gun must have scared them." she said out loud, looking for a way out. Not seeing a way past the circle of undead she felt a twinge of panic. She could fly out of harm's reach, but she wouldn't be able to carry everyone in one go.
"Let's get up those crates." Ciel suggested. Before even Elizabeth had been brought up safely Madeleine caught her hand on the wood, a splinter piercing her skin. The stab broke her concentration on the large shield, shattering it.
Ciel at once turned around, picking off any of the dead people that came too close. Before long however one of them reached him. Elizabeth screamed, Madeleine ran, but the corpse had already stopped moving. Several of the snakes had constricted it, giving them some more time.
"Smiles!" Snake shouted, holding out his hand to the boy. Madeleine quickly gave Ciel a boost so he could reach Snake's hand, before she deftly climbed up herself.
Snake started to discuss the creatures, but Madeleine was too busy thinking of other things. Apart from the fact that these things were abominations there was also the problem she had to get out of here without using her powers too much. She let out a wry smile when she remembered something Sebastian had told her the first day. A Phantomhive servant should be able to solve things like an ordinary human being.
"F-food?" Elizabeth stuttered when Snake neared the end of his observations.
Madeleine patted the young girl on the hand, sending an admonishing glare to the two men. "We'll be okay as long as we're up here, Lizzy." She reassured her. She couldn't tell the others what she suspected. When the dead Margaret had attacked her mother, she hadn't started to eat the woman. Instead, as soon as the woman had been dead Margaret had lost interest in her. Which meant they were after something more intangible than food.
She tried to renew her shield, but it was impossible to aim around the flailing body parts. Snake would notice something like that, and there were too many. Elizabeth held on to Ciel as suddenly the crates they were sitting on started to shake. The dead ones had started to chew and scratch the wooden crates, rendering them weaker.
'No you don't.' Madeleine thought, unleashing her shield. The seal on her chest started to burn as she had to tap into Sebastian's power, but that didn't matter. If she had to keep all of them safe then she would make this the strongest shield she had. Yet the sheer size of the shield had her panting after a few seconds, only making things worse.
Silver knives slashed open several heads below them, announcing the arrival of Sebastian. The demon surveyed the situation for a moment, his smile widening when he saw her there. Luckily Ciel translated her feelings accurately when he ordered the demon to stop loafing about and start doing something.
The demon obeyed, starting his grim work without a single protest. While Ciel shielded Lizzy from the onslaught there was nothing that could keep Snake from seeing things. Madeleine fought to keep the shield up, suspecting the demon was picking off the outer stragglers first to force her to strengthen their bond by using his power. If things kept up like this, Snake was going to notice there was more off about them than first suspected.
Blood splattered about the scene, but the corpses never once screamed. Their bodies might have possessed pain sensors but there was no being to relate the message of pain to. She clenched her teeth as the shield became heavier and heavier to bear. If she had had the spare energy she would have shouted at the demon to hurry up, but all she could do now was endure.
Soon the last remaining ones were disposed of, leaving them all to come down from their hiding space. Sebastian tossed away his soiled gloves after an order from Ciel, looking at Madeleine inquiringly. "Are you hurt in any way?" he asked her as Elizabeth insisted on checking over Ciel.
Madeleine shook her head, before Sebastian took her hand where she had gotten the splinter. "Even if you heal so rapidly, you have to remove the source that is wounding you first." He advised her with a smile, plucking out the offending piece of wood with deft fingers. For some reason the action sent a flutter through her heart.
"I'm fine." She replied, pressing the hand to her chest. "… what about you?" she finally asked, knowing fully well he hadn't really been hurt. But still, there was always a chance.
"You know my abilities." He replied simply, tossing out knives from his pockets before he could continue. "Perhaps it is time we learn the doctor's as well."
Following Sebastian's look the group say doctor Ryan Stoker, cowering in a corner. He moved over to the man, grabbing a thin piece of rope to tie him up. "We will ask the doctor's question while tea is being served." The demon suggested.
"No, wait! I have to say something first!" the man shouted as Sebastian ignored all attempts at breaking lose. Finally Ciel held out a hand to Sebastian to stop him from silencing the doctor.
"There are ten times as many samples in the other freight storage!" Ryan shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. The statement immediately caused everyone in the group to freeze, even Elizabeth who didn't even have half of the necessary information she needed to be properly afraid. "And… they all should be waking up around now, because the person who keeps them calm hasn't been to check on them. That's why I came down here, to check!"
Madeleine's heart started to beat faster as she realized that had been the aura that had been bugging her this entire time. "Ten times? How do you know they're not calmed down?"
"Because that person always came down here first! Which means they've been killed by Margaret, probably!" The doctor shouted.
"But they were too stupid to go up the stairs. So we should be alright, no?" Elizabeth interjected, trying to shine a ray of hope on the situation.
Madeleine was forced to extinguish that hope. "Probably because they were too focused on getting to us." Or rather, what they possessed that the corpses didn't have. "If there isn't any 'food' they can get their hands on, they'll go looking for it."
"Sebastian." Ciel started, looking back and forth between the demon and the angel. "Go protect my aunt and the others. Bring them to safety."
"You will be fine?" Sebastian asked, raising his eyebrows.
Ciel nodded, showing his small gun before he inclined his head slightly to Madeleine. "I have confidence we'll be fine for as long as necessary. The others might not be so fortunate."
Madeleine pulled the corners of her mouth up in an attempt to seem as confident. Her shields – her primary defense – hadn't been enough to ward off this many of the dead people. And there were ten times more out there?
Sebastian looked at her, just for a second. In that second she could feel all the questions that should be asked weigh down upon her. The most important one was : could she protect these people for however long it took?
If she had to base her judgment on the events of the past half hour the answer would have been a resounding no. But then the corner of Sebastian's mouth twitched into a smile for just a moment. Not reassuring, not comforting.
Challenging.
If she wanted to save Ciel so badly, if she wanted to be his equal, than she had better make sure they made it through this. She straightened her back, giving him back the same kind of smile.
She was a Phantomhive, and she would rise up to the challenge. If only to wipe that smile of his face.
Amandalucia : thank you for wishing me luck ^^ And don't worry, updating may be slow sometimes, but I will finish this fic.
CeruleanKiss : Always nice to hear from you my dear. As long as I manage to entertain people with my writing, it really makes my time worth it.
Ceretalia : Thank you for the kind words. I hope you have a very pleasant day!